Fur seal dancing on a M. Jackson's music!

I am off to business trip - see you all on Saturday! Have a great week and enjoy this video!

My Bloody Vampire - 31 Days of Dark Delights Event

My Bloody Vampire - 31 Days of Dark Delights Event

Check this out at Bitten By Books - a lot of fun things :)

Back from the wedding and review of Blood Promise by R. Mead

This was a good weekend for me. I went to my mother cousin's wedding who is closer to my age. It was lovely and the bride and the groom were so happy, that you could smell it in the air :) The decorations of the wedding hall were also beautiful and elaborate. I had a very good time...

Last night I finished reading Blood Promise by Richelle Mead. It's the forth book in the Vampire Academy Series and it's in fact YA. But I don't mind it, I like the whole series.
Here goes the blurb:
The recent attack on St. Vladimir's Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse. A rare tattoo now adorns Rose's neck, a mark that says she's killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters . . . Dimitri Belikov. Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life's vow to protect Lissa—her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess—or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She'll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved?
Now, with everything at stake—and worlds away from St. Vladimir's and her unguarded, vulnerable, and newly rebellious best friend—can Rose find the strength to destroy Dimitri? Or, will she sacrifice herself for a chance at eternal love?

The first part of the book feels like a recap of events occurred in the first three books. At first I like that, 'cause it made me fall back in to that mood and remember all the stuff I forgot since I've read the other books long time ago. But as the story advanced, this became boring and it slowed down the pace of the story. Things became interesting in the second half of the book. Maybe 'cause I'm European and live relatively near Russia, I found all the comments about Russians and their customs relatively uninteresting. I don't want to ruin the experience for those who haven't read the book, but I found Rosa's stay in Russia and especially with certain family a little bit boring. It felt like it's written just so that enough pages were produced. Also the ending and all the new possibilities with Strigoi's soul were little unreal and like something that was invented just for the Happy Ending's sake.
In spite of all said above, I recommend reading this series (in correct reading order!) and I can't wait for the fifth one Spirit Bound to come in May 2010.
I give this book 3.5 feathers.
For more information about the books and the author please visit http://www.richellemead.com/ - official website or http://blue-succubus.livejournal.com/ which is a very interesting author's blog.

Book details:
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 512 pages
Publisher: Razorbill (August 25, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595141987
ISBN-13: 978-1595141989

My 'lovely' cats

When I moved from flat to the house I had a dog for 14 years. We moved in during the winter and later that year he died of old age. I was so sad that I decided to get a cat since getting a new dog was unthinkable at that time (I was just too sad). I got a midnight black male cat and called him Hector. I was happy that I had only one cat and since he was a male I figured that the number of cats wouldn't change. Oh boy was I wrong. Next summer he brought home his pregnant mistress. I was angry but also soft hearted and couldn't refuse food to the woman in need. That's how I got three more cats - a mother, a daughter and a son. Those two were miniature replicas of their parents. Boy - named Blacky had black fur and a girl - named Grey was well, grey with tiger marks on it. After a few months the mother past away from, what was established later, an old age.
So, I present you my cat family:

Hector

Blacky

Grey

As you can see, the boys are better models then girls - she just couldn't stop grooming herself :)

One year anniversary at Lea's

Closetwriter's One Year Anniversary Party Starts September 28th!

And look what the prizes are:
Monday: $25.00 Gift Certificate - Details to follow..

Tuesday: Copy of "Paradise Rules", by Beth Kery..

Wednesday: Copy of "Paradise Rules", by Beth Kery..

Thursday: Winner's Choice of a copy of "Wicked Burn", "Daring Time", or "Sweet Restraint", by Beth Kery..


The Giveaways Will Be Open To EVERYONE Who Would Like to Join In!!

Exciting - can't wait :)

Reviews - C. Dodd's Storm of Visions & S. Kenyon's Bad Moon Rising

I haven't blogged for a while now. I'm sorry about this, but I was so busy at work and with the family stuff that I just couldn't make the time to write something worth reading :) I did, however, manage to read two books (in the late evenings): Storm of Visions by Christina Dodd and Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon.
Here are my reviews.

First Christina Dodd:
Storm of Visions is the first book in the Chosen Ones series. It's loosely related to the Darkness Chosen series but you don't have to read the first series in order to follow the second one's storyline.
Here goes the blurb:
Jacqueline Vargha has always run from her gift. Now Caleb D'Angelo forces his way into her life, demands his place as her lover, and insists she take her place as one of the Chosen. She flees, he pursues, but she can no longer deny her visions, or the dangerous man who is her downfall — and her destiny.

I had high expectations for this book but they haven't been fulfilled entirely. At first I had a hard time following the story and I couldn't understand why's Jacqueline running from Caleb and then sleeps with him when she actually hates him. We do get an explanation later but it doesn't feel real and believable. There are lots of other characters whose motivations and roles in this book aren't clear to me. I just couldn't feel the chemistry between two leading characters or their connection with other characters. They felt like paper characters without any 'flesh'. And the world building was bad, it didn't excite me like this stuff usually does and makes me read the whole book in one night.
It is relatively good and fast paced book. I've ordered the second one - Storm of Shadows 'cause I remembered that I haven't enjoyed the first book in the Darkness Chosen series but the other three ones were much better.
For more information about the author and her other books visit http://www.christinadodd.com/
I give this book 3 feathers.

Book details:
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Signet (August 4, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451227638
ISBN-13: 978-0451227638


Sherrilyn Kenyon:
Bad Moon Rising - a Dark Hunter novel
The story:
In the world of the Were-Hunters, like stays with like. Species don't mix and they definitely don't fall in love. But from the moment Aimee Peltier took in a wounded wolf, her heart wouldn't listen to what her head told her.
However, Fang Kattalakis isn't just a wolf; he is the brother of two of the most powerful members of the Omegrion: the ruling council that enforces the laws of the lyncanthropes. His brothers are the wolf representatives and Aimee's mother represents the Bear clan. Aimee is the heir apparent for her species. There is no way these two can ever be together and they know it.
But when war comes to Sanctuary, the establishment run by Aimee's family, sides must be chosen and enemies are forced into shaky alliances. Aimee is accused of betraying her people, and her only hope is the one man who believes in her. Yet in order to save her, Fang must break the law of his people, and that breech could very well spell the end of both their races.

I adore this author and her books. They are always so emotional and heart wrenching. They use to kept me reading through the night. But this one didn't do it for me. The whole book felt so disconnected and the relationship between Aimee and Fang so unreal. Why they were in love? - I just didn't get it. Their story was mentioned through several different books in the series and this book felt like it had to connect all those stories. And I have to say it failed miserably. This just wasn't Kenyon I fell in love with. Again, those characters were so fleshless and thin I just couldn't believe it. The whole story lacks depth; I mean we didn't get a chance to meet Aimee as a bear. This book could be so much better, this is the first story where bear is the main character, but Kenyon just didn't use all the potentials this book could have.
I give it 4 feathers just because I'm S. Kenyon's fan :)

Book details:
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1 edition (August 4, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312369492
ISBN-13: 978-0312369491

For more information about the author and the books visit: http://www.sherrilynkenyon.com/

The world has lost one of his finests - the actor Patrick Swayze

I was so sad this morning when I heard on the radio that Patrick Swayze died. He lost his battle with the cancer. He was a great actor. I loved him in the Ghost but I adored him in Dirty Dancing. He was great. The world lost one great person and an amazing artist.

Rest in peace.

Here's one of my favourite scenes from Dirty Dancing - the final dance.


Dirty Dancing - For more amazing video clips, click here

New Moon - can't wait

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

My mind is a world traveller :)

How's your concentration? I lack mine. I always had hard time concentrating on learning but nowadays I can’t concentrate on work related reading. It sucks - believe me! Right now I'm supposed to finish my reports but I've decided to surf the www instead.
How on earth am I going to finish my MBA!?
Does anyone fell this way too?

Back from the fair

I was away for five days at the international business fair. It was good, I had a good company almost every day and we did some business too :)
But the best day was Friday. We went rafting! Yay! It was great. In the morning we had an official agreement signing and in the afternoon for all the participants of the conference rafting was organised. It wasn't the hardest route but scary enough. But it was such a trilling experience. We had such a good team and we spent whole afternoon laughing. But don't fool yourself, rowing is a hard work. I have a sour shoulder to prove it. And the water is freezing cold. Our boat didn't overturn but I was thrown into the water by my team and I can assure you that that wasn't a pleasant feeling :) My team consisted of working colleagues and friends.

The Dream-team (I'm the first on the left)

In the full gear (I'm the second from the left)

In the boat before the start (first on the left).

After-party!!! (first on the right)

I've also managed to read one book (thin one) in the evenings when I was too tired to go anywhere. It's The Tycoon's Pregnant Mistress by Maya Banks.
It was a light read but very interesting. Although amnesia and rich lovers are well known subjects, Ms. Banks managed to do it in a way that felt fresh and not at all boring. I loved it, it was a perfect light read.
The blurb:
Greek hotel magnate Chrysander Anetakis's former mistress was pregnant? And had amnesia? That meant Marley Jameson didn't remember betraying him by selling company secrets. Or that he'd thrown her out of his life. So he told her a little white lie: they were engaged. Then he swept her away to his Greek island to await the birth of his baby and enjoy her sudden devotion...before tossing her out. But he didn't count on Marley regaining her memory so soon.

Book details
Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Silhouette (January 13, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0373769202
ISBN-13: 978-0373769209

For more details go to Ms Banks' web: http://www.mayabanks.com/

And, thank you Leah Braemel for sending me this book! Leah often has good contests and always fabulous posts at her blog. Check it out!

Wekeend update

I had a great time this weekend. Although a cold ruined some of them. Sunday early in the morning my boyfriend and I went to a cycling race he competed in. It was held in this old town on a hill with great castle - fortress.

Me in front of the castle

Rain was pouring the night before and it was pretty cold in the morning. We arrived early which was a good thing because He had to change both of his tires 'cause of the mud on the track caused by last night's downpour. My assignment was to be in the feed zone and each round give him fresh water and other energy stuff.

Me with my pass around the neck

All of you who are regular visitors to my blog know this isn't my first time to be in the feed zone (you can read about the first time here http://angel-on-a-move.blogspot.com/2009/06/great-weekend-and-pretty-good-monday.html ). I also managed to take 178 pictures :)

Him during the race

Me on the track (see how steep it is, I didn't put my right leg like that just for looking good in the picture :))

He finished the race as 7th and the season as the 10th. Not a bad result in fact because he had a lot of problems with his bicycle and he had to change it (not a good thing in the middle of the season).

This is how you look like after the race (see all the mud?).

The plan was to go to the concert of my favourite band but I was having a fever and feeling like crap so we had to go home. I'm so disappointed about this 'cause it was a free concert too :(
But I've made the right decision according to my doctor who put me on antibiotics on Monday.

I'll be gone for the rest of the week. I'm on a business fair in another country and I'm not sure how the Internet connection works there. If I'll have an opportunity I'll post about my 'adventures'.
Have a great week and see you soon!

Interesting Experiment

I've heard about this experiment long time ago. Today, I stumbled on it again and decided to share it with you. I think nothing has changed since that January morning in 2007.

"Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes:
A 3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.
45 minutes:
The musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.
He collected $32.
1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theatre in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it?
Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments....How many other things are we missing? "

So, what are your thoughts? Please share.